AP Materials and Millennium Cell Awarded Defense Funding to Develop Nanoscale Titanium Diboride.

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2002

AP Materials and Millennium Cell:

U.S. Missile Defense Agency to Support Development of Nanoscale 

Titanium Diboride for Advanced Energy Storage Systems Through the

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

AP Materials, Inc. (APM) and its partner Millennium Cell, a developer of hydrogen fuel systems, have been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency for development of nanoscale titanium diboride (TiB(2)) for use in advanced batteries and other energy storage systems.

The award will support AP Materials' continuing development of the powders that promise to increase the storage capacity of a new generation of primary batteries that use air to convert the material to electronic energy. Designs for the air batteries show that they are capable of yielding very high energy densities with significant improvements over existing technologies and will improve the performance by providing extended battery life or by reducing package size.

"The award was made possible in-part by our partnership with Millennium Cell, a development-stage company that has created a proprietary technology to safely generate and store hydrogen, and we are very much looking forward to working with them to develop a product that is demanded by military and commercial markets," said Douglas P. DuFaux, AP Materials' Vice President of Operations and the Manager of the TiB(2) development project. "Our high surface area/low oxygen nanoscale titanium diboride is very unique and holds great potential for use in a broad range of applications. Advanced primary batteries is an excellent first application and its development will demonstrate the quality of our materials and open the door to other applications."

"We are very pleased to join AP Materials in this important development effort," said Dr. Terry M. Copeland, Vice President - Product Development. "Nano-sized TiB(2) powders should enhance the already significant performance advantages of these new primary battery systems. The increasing power demand of portable electronics, the desire to reduce weight and mass, and the environmental friendliness of these systems should lead to enthusiastic acceptance in both military and commercial markets."

AP Materials (www.apmaterials.com) is a leading developer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art ceramic and metallic nanopowders for electronics, energy, and other markets. The Company has developed a unique production technology that combines industry standard chemistry with industry standard production processes to provide high performance nanoscale materials at competitive prices. The result is a product line that can satisfy the needs of the most demanding end-users. The ability to produce nanomaterials that are free of oxygen is a significant technical development and has broad applicability in defense, aerospace, electronics, energy, and other industries. The Company is focused primarily on non-oxide materials and offers a broad range of metal, ceramic, and composite nanopowders.

Founded in 1998, Millennium Cell is based in Eatontown, NJ and is focused on developing new, clean and abundant energy sources. Millennium Cell has invented and developed a proprietary process called Hydrogen on Demand(TM) that safely generates pure hydrogen or electricity from environmentally friendly raw materials. In the process, the energy potential of hydrogen is carried in the chemical bonds of sodium borohydride, which in the presence of a particular catalyst either releases hydrogen or produces electricity. The primary input components of the reaction are water and sodium borohydride, a derivative of borax. Borax is found in substantial natural reserves globally. Millennium Cell technology can be applied in transportation, stationary and portable power applications, including long-life batteries.

The company is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol MCEL. For more information on Millennium Cell, visit www.millenniumcell.com or call Millennium Cell at [phone].

About the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

SBIR, a highly competitive program open to all small businesses, provides up to $850,000 in early-stage R&D funding directly to small technology companies. The Department of Defense (DoD) SBIR program requires technical proposals to be submitted for review by a committee of government scientists, engineers, and technical managers who recommend funding if the proposal is determined to be a promising approach for the DoD.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements:

This press release may include statements which are not historical facts and are considered "forward-looking" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect Millennium Cell's current views about future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe," "expect," "plan," "anticipate", "on target" and similar expressions identifying forward-looking statements. Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Millennium Cell's expectations, and Millennium Cell expressly does not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) the cost and timing of development and market acceptance of Millennium Cell's hydrogen fuel storage and delivery system, (ii) the cost and commercial availability of the quantities of raw materials required by the hydrogen fuel storage and delivery systems, (iii) competition from current, improving and alternative power technologies, (iv) our ability to raise capital at the times, in the amounts and at the costs and terms that are acceptable to fund the development and commercialization of our hydrogen fuel storage and delivery system, (v) our ability to protect our intellectual property, (vi) our ability to achieve budgeted revenue and expense amounts and (vii) other factors detailed from time to time in Millennium Cell's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.